ZERO City Trilogy
by Al Kristopher
Summary: Sequel to "Midsummer Night's Scheme". A mysterious city from the future has appeared, and the new Team Rocket plans on taking its advanced technology for their own! Can our five heroes stop their most powerful foe yet??
1. Radar Race

Author's note: This picks up shortly after "A Midsummer Night's Scheme" ends, so it's actually a sequel. I might add this story onto it later, but for now, it's going to be on its own. Reading AMSNS is a prerequisite before going into here; however, don't feel sore, as the previous story is of reasonable length and actually quite enjoyable.

**__**

ZERO City

By Al Kristopher

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Part One: Radar Race

"We're here, old man."

Two figures walked through a door and into a very clean and very dark room. They could smell the pungent aroma of cigar smoke in the air, and the small rays of light that seeped in from the shut blinds. A large desk crowned the room, and behind this desk sat a middle-aged man, gently stroking a large cat. He raised his eyes up at those he had summoned and pointed them to a seat.

"Ah, come in and sit down. This meeting will take awhile. And shut the door, if you will." They shut it, and they sat, and they listened as their employer took in a deep breath, and exhaled it in the form of fire and smoke. "I did not get the time to speak with you at length during your latest report, but I have been hearing some very disappointing things. Tell me, was it really so hard for the two of you to accomplish your mission?"

"Yes and no, sir," grumbled a deep voice. "Up until we arrived, we had no troubles. The old man, however, has… very advanced skills with his Pokemon. Only one attacked, but this one seemed enough to beat us both. We both decided that it would be wisest to abort the mission, since it would probably take an army to capture those creatures."

"Besides, the fool had completely lost his mind," sighed a more husky voice. "He didn't look like he was playing dumb either. It would have been a waste to drag him back over here."

"And did he have any documents?" asked their employer.

"Yes sir, but we were unable to get to them because of his Pokemon. As I said, we aborted the mission. We may be the best in the business, sir, but even we have our limits." A short lull broke the conversation.

"I see. Well, I am disappointed, but I won't let this deter me. I have another mission for you two, one that might prove to bear even more fruit than your first. I will admit that from the report you gave me, you had no troubles up until the point where you met the old man, so I will excuse this failure due to circumstances beyond your control. However, Mr. Glidden, Ms. Burke, I do not expect for you to abort or fail something so important again, am I understood?"

"Perfectly," said the husky-voiced female. Their employer smiled, shuffled a few papers, and wheeled his chair around. A remote found its way to his hand, and with one press, a monitor descended down from the ceiling. A second push gave the screen life, and on the other side were two of Giovanni's most reliable Team Rocket Scientists, William and Bonney. As the screen lit up the room, the two that had been summoned into the boss' room became visible, and Marion and Morrison were brought into the light.

"Marion, Morrison, meet William and Bonney, two of Team Rocket's best scientists and researchers," pointed the boss. "William, Bonney, this is Marion and Morrison, Team Rocket's best field agents. Now, in the days following the Legendary Pokemon Master incident, my temper has cooled and my researchers have been working hard for the next Team Rocket advancement. As we all know, it is the goal of Team Rocket to subjugate the world under our strict but fair control, and to have complete access and authority over all Pokemon, wild or tame. With that said, we are always looking for new ways to further our cause.

"Marion, Morrison, while you were searching for the Legendary Master, William and Bonney were exploring a desolate island, in hopes of finding some rare minerals that can force Pokemon to evolve to their next level, such as when a Meowth evolves to a Persian." (His own Persian, around that moment, yawned heavily) "Will you care to tell your fellow agents what you have found?"

"_Jawhol, Mein Fuehrer_," replied Bonney in a thick German accent. "On ze unidentified island, Wilhelm _und_ I vere collecting samples of minerals dat could not be found anyvere else in ze vorld, as Giovanni has told you. However, vhile ve vere looking around, ve came across an abnormality in ze environment--or, should I say, an abnormality in all reason _und_ logic."

"What?" grumbled Morrison. William adjusted his glasses and tried to explain better.

"It was a _huge_ massive conglomeration of structures that weren't listed anywhere else in the world!" he exclaimed in his Scottish accent. "Ah canno' describe it as annythin' else except a large city! A city, right there in tha desert, where there didn'a use to be a city before!"

"A city?" parroted Marion. Both scientists nodded their heads.

"_Da_, a city dat has never been recorded or even recognized in any guidebook or atlas before. It vas like it came out of novhere, so neither von of us vanted to examine it at first. Vhen ve did gazzer our courage up, ve explored ze city _und_ began to theorize vhy it vas dere!"

"Get to the point, Bonney," grumbled an impatient Giovanni. He did not like scientists, because they always seemed to give away too much information, especially in a hasty situation. William tried to abbreviate their discovery in a few words.

"We came to the conclusion that th' city was from the future!" he exclaimed. "Ah found some evidence that can back this claim up. First of all, there were all these grand spires o' buildin's, huge as towers and looking black as coal! The technology was beyond anythin' ah ever saw!"

"To the _point_, professor!" snapped Giovanni impatiently. Both scientists apologized; Marion and Morrison, however, were aghast.

"Ve vill send you our research via Pokemail," said Bonney before expanding on their find. "In ze meantime, ve haff come to a conclusion that since dis city vas from ze future, zere must be a treasure trove of items _und_ technology dat Team Rocket could use for its advances--items dat are beyond our limitations in zis age."

"Of course, since we didn'a know what kind o' dangers would be in that place, we only had a cursory look before we left," concluded William. "We're scientists, Giovanni, and not field agents!"

"I'm glad you did the wise thing," replied the boss. "Now make a shelter and stay there. I'm sending these two over to rendezvous with you, understood?"

"_Da._"

"Aye."

"Good. Giovanni out." The monitor lost its life, and ascended back into the ceiling, where it would remain hidden until summoned again. Slowly, Giovanni wheeled around until he was facing his agents again, his cigar slowly being sucked away. Marion and Morrison both gave him silent and skeptical looks for quite some time before either one spoke up.

"…Uh, sir?"

"All your questions will be answered in the briefing," stated Giovanni calmly. "In the meantime, all I can say is that you should trust those two. They aren't two of Team Rocket's best scientists for nothing; they know what they're doing. Now, once I get the report from those two, I'll let you pore over it as long as you want. You'll be taking an airship to their location, and you'll probably be there by the end of the day. Any questions?"

"Other than the obvious, I really don't have any," admitted Marion softly. "This sounds like a very bizarre mission, but I'm assuming that all you really want us to do is go in there and take as many useful things as we can, right?" Giovanni nodded his head, and the scarred blonde sighed.

"Advanced technologies from a future civilization will be ten times more helpful than the alliance of some old Pokemon expert," he pointed, jabbing the air with his fiery cigar. "Any records from that era would make even his research look obsolete, and there would even be things recorded that we would have no knowledge of in this age. Oh, and I don't have to tell you that there might even be a few species of Pokemon around that area that have never been conceived yet. The place will be dangerous, and as far as I know, we're the only ones who know about it, so I'm sending you in."

"It's a flattering honor, sir, but why?" asked Morrison. Giovanni shrugged and smiled at his new favorite duo.

"Well, for one, I want you to redeem yourselves for what happened in the last mission. Whether or not it was your fault is irrelevant; the point is that you did not succeed. Secondly, I believed those two when they said that this city would be dangerous. The future is uncertain, so I want to send in my absolute best. Therefore, you two shall be my selection." Both Marion and Morrison smiled, but before they stood up and went out on their way, they had to ask their "boss" one last question.

"Sounds great. What's the pay?"

"That depends on what you bring back," he muttered calmly, his fingers intertwined. Both hired assassins frowned and looked at each other, but they were smart enough to know when they were facing somebody too shrewd for their own good. They quietly agreed, and then, they set out to the Team Rocket airport. The report written up by William and Bonney was in their hands before they set a single foot onto the flying machine.

__

"Although we were unable to explore as much of the city as we wanted, we have still gathered a sufficient amount of information. The residents there call it ZERO City, and henceforth, it shall be known as thus.

"It is obvious it comes from the future--even the newspapers there foretold of a date distant of our own. At first, we did not believe that an entire city could materialize out of nowhere, let alone the future, but after extensive study and theorization, we have both reached a sound conclusion. ZERO City must have been caught in a very severe electromagnetic storm that might have erupted from a particularly powerful burst of energy created by sun flares. Coupled with the city's own advanced technology, which was ahead of its time even in its own era, the space-time continuum might have been damaged, and thus a 'tear' in time was opened.

"The city then traveled through the continuum until the electric damage had weakened, which was how it arrived in this particular time. Its destination was completely random--for all we know, it could have arrived in medieval times or the Industrial Revolution. In any case, the city does not seem to be damaged because of the journey, and the people there seem aware that they have been thrust into the past. They did not speak with us or even approach us, so we could not affirm any of our estimations. There is no question that there will be great technology available to anyone with the will to take it.

"It is only a matter of time before Team Rocket becomes unstoppable."

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A single police siren woke Ash Ketchum up from his sleep, and as he sat out of his bed and rubbed his eyes, the morning light crept in slowly through the curtain and blinded him. He yawned, and then another siren jolted Pikachu up. The little yellow mouse-creature yawned cutely, and looked up at his master and friend.

"Hey, Pikachu, you sleep well?" asked Ash. Pikachu nodded his head, then turned around to face the window as yet another siren wailed by. Ash crossed his eyebrows in confusion, and slowly stood out of bed. He made his way to the window, and parted it just a crack to see what was going on.

"Mhhn, close that thing, will you?" asked a female voice. A male voice followed hers.

"We probably won't get to spend another night in a bed like this for a long time, so let's take advantage of it, whaddya say?" Ash frowned, and opened the window anyway.

"There are sirens… lots of them… and they're heading away from the police station! I wonder what's up?"

"Could be just another early morning crime," offered the woman that had spoken. "Banks would be opening right around this time."

"No, I don't think it's a bank," muttered Ash as he kept his vigil. He could see people running down the streets, some of them with mechanical objects in their arms, other with electric-type Pokemon. They all seemed upset, and they were all going to the police station.

"…Huh? What the…"

"HUAAAAAAAAAAA!!" A great lioness' roar preceded the appearance of young Misty, who had gotten up early for first shower privileges. She slowly walked over to the window and peeked over Ash's shoulder. "Hey, what's up? What're you looking at?"

"All those people are running towards the police station!" he told her. "And a lot of squad cars are going away! Do you think something might've happened?" Misty peered through the window, biting her lip as she watched the unusual scene of chaos. It was peculiar to see such a thing that early in the morning, and it piqued her curiosity just as it piqued Ash's. Suddenly, as the youngsters were staring out the window, they were shoved aside by two older companions, the male and the female that had wanted to take advantage of the hotel beds.

"Now what's going on?! I won't be able to sleep until I find out!" he exclaimed.

"Darn! I hate being so curious!" she snapped. They shared a view, and sure enough, it was as Ash and Misty had told them. As the four friends stared out the window, their fifth companion stumbled into the room, looking more excited than if he had been on a beach full of women.

"You guys, wake up and come outside! You're never gonna believe it!" Ash, James, Jessie, and Misty all looked over at Brock, who was only slightly amazed to find that they were already up. He smiled sheepishly, and pointed to the outer world.

"Well, come on!" he exclaimed. "Hurry up and get dressed! It's crazy out there! Officer Jenny and her friends are up to their ears in trouble! Come on!" Brock raced back outside, leaving his four friends to stare at each other quizzically.

"Uh, sure…" shrugged Jessie.

When the four of them dashed outside, they saw that things were as bad as they thought, and worse. Police cars poured out of the nearby stations by the dozen, and a large crowd had gathered around Officer Jenny and several of her comrades. As always, the woman in blue kept a calm face and a strong voice, and tried to assure everyone that everything would return to normal in a matter of moments. Not even Brock knew what was going on, and he had just told his friends about the news. Together, the five of them squeezed their way to the crowd and met the poor policewoman.

"Officer Jenny, what's going on?!" demanded Ash. "Why are all these people here? Why are they carrying their Pokemon and their electric things with them!?"

"Sorry, I can't talk to you right now!" she shouted, trying to make herself heard over the noisy crowd. "You'll have to ask Officer Lee instead! I'm sorry; I'm just too busy here!" The young ones understood and went over to a man they assumed to be Officer Lee, who was currently taking a breakfast break.

"Officer Lee?" He looked up at them, his face weary from the morning anarchy, and tried to wave. "Can you tell us what's going on, Officer Lee?"

"I can try," he sighed wearily. "You see, kids, sometime late last night, a terrible electric storm shorted out the power in this city. They had repair teams try and fix the problem, but they soon found that it was not just the power that had failed. All electric-type Pokemon, from Voltorb to Magnemite and probably even the Zapdos itself have all been shorted out. It's like their powers have all been rendered useless! The Pokemon themselves are fine, as I see your Pikachu is fine, but they won't be able to use their powers! Something's scrambling their circuits… something that appeared out of nowhere last night!"

"Something appeared? What do you mean?" asked Jessie. Lee chewed his donut down before answering her.

"An airplane that was flying over an uninhabited island suddenly began to receive unusual power frequencies that had not been present before. Something came from out of nowhere out in the sea, and from what the pilot could discover, he thinks that it's a _city!_"

"A city??" balked Jessie.

"From out of nowhere??" balked James.

"But that's not possible!" they exclaimed together. Officer Lee nodded his head wearily.

"I would have said the same thing just yesterday, but it seems like it's true. I think the city's appearance is what's caused all the electricity in this area to fail--I dunno, maybe it has something built inside of it that negates electric waves--and people have been screaming all day. The cops and the power plant people are the only ones they turn to! It's been madness all morning long!"

"Ah, so that's it!" exclaimed Misty. "Then those police cars must have been going down to where that city was and investigating!" Officer Lee nodded his head, and another mystery and adventure opened up for the five friends. Before any of them could declare anything, however, Officer Jenny interrupted with a breaking report.

"Officer Lee, this just in from HQ!" she exclaimed. "It seems that two pairs of identified persons are trying to gain access into the city! They've been tagged as members of Team Rocket, all four of them!"

"Team Rocket?!" blurted Jessie and James. "But what could they want with that strange place?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good!" exclaimed Ash. "Officer Jenny, can you give us a transport to that place?"

"You're kidding, I hope!" she replied. "That's out of the question! Team Rocket is dangerous, and there's no telling what sort of terrible things could be in that city! It alone might have been the cause of all this electric disturbance!"

"But we have to try and stop them before they do something terrible!" he argued. "If Team Rocket makes it into that city, then they might have control over the electricity of this town, or even the whole _world_, at their beck and call!"

"It's true," agreed James. "That's just the sort of thing they'd do."

"We should know; we used to be _in_ that terrible place," snorted Jessie. Jenny looked at them both, and deep inside her mind, she knew she had seen them somewhere before, but could not guess where at first. She quietly nodded her head, and reasoned that with two ex-Rockets, their chances would turn out to be good.

"Well, if they're with you, then I guess I can let you go," she murmured. "You'll be leaving with Squad 16, first by car and then by boat. It'll take you awhile, but it's the quickest way there. Squad 16 leaves in two hours, so be ready!"

"Right!" Ash and his friends nodded their heads, and prepared themselves for another adventure in the disguise of a crucial mission. Of course, they were unaware that the city in question had really come from the future, or that its technology was far more advanced than the mere usage of disrupting electric waves…

---------------

Marion and Morrison were both tough nuts to crack, but even they had to stare in muted awe as they approached the large structure that had appeared so suddenly. Their teammates in the science department had labeled it as a city from the future, but their description sorely lacked any real substance. What towered before them was not a work of man--not in that time, not in any time. It was a black, cold, mechanical monster, radiating with an eternal dark light and the eerie fire of hundreds of electric lamps glowing in the dull darkness. Both Rockets stared at it with mouths gaped open for quite a long time.

The city was bathed in an eerie dark light, almost as if the sun refused to shine on it at all. No explanation could be made for this, since it was in the middle of the day, so finding a city covered with black light was frightening even for the Rockets. They honestly had never seen anything like it. Enormous buildings, some making skyscrapers seem dwarfish, rose high up into the sky as they slowly walked towards the suburb. Unlike the grassy knolls or occasional cobblestone streets one would find in a normal town, a metallic sort of rock-ground was beneath their feet. It was fairly rough to the feel, and looked like it had been made out of steel and not concrete or stone.

The buildings themselves stretched out to the heavens, gazing back down at any intruders as if they were giants condemning them for trespassing. Unnatural glowing lights could be seen in the windows, though no activity was going on inside. The streets were covered with these buildings, and not a blade of grass nor a leafy tree could be found. In fact, it seemed as if the city abhorred nature.

Needless to say, Marion and Morrison drew many stares as they walked through the city. For the most part, the streets were void of life, although on occasion they would find a local walking down the pavement. The citizens would always look at the Rockets with mysterious awe, and would sometimes stand still and stare, or else run and tell others. Their clothes were beyond imagination--they looked very flashy and definitely futuristic, and were probably made out of fibers unknown to our lands.

"Weird," whispered Marion softly. Even her partner could disagree as they carefully stepped down the black streets. The air had a scent of pollution in it, and as they entered the heart of the city, they couldn't help but notice that the sky was black. Team Rocket was not usually in tune to divine power, but they knew bad omens when they saw one. It was as if some foreboding power hated to see them there, and wished to express this.

"I wonder where our colleagues are," muttered Morrison to himself. Marion shrugged, and took a quick glance around the city. William and Bonney had been nowhere in sight, and in fact, not even a trace of their presence could be found, not even a piece of clothing or a footprint. It was like they had disappeared entirely--but the two Rockets had more important matters to worry about.

"They can take care of themselves," said Marion in her usual cold voice. "Right now, let's have a look around this place. Keep your guard up, though; I sense there are things crawling around this city that are best left to mystery." Morrison quietly agreed, and stood on his guard as he followed his partner into the dark streets. Not knowing where to go or what to look for, the dangerous duo merely waited for opportunity to present itself to them as they searched the city.

----------

Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty stood frozen as they stared at the large metropolis before them. Although it was in the middle of the day and there were no storms forecasted, the sky hovering around ZERO City was completely cloaked in black. The city had been blanketed in darkness, from the outer limits to the very heart, and the only possible way that anybody could see was by the light of lamps scattered around the inside. Officer Jenny had seen the city before, but even she got shivers as she made more observations.

"The power reading from that place is disrupting our sensors," stated a technical crewmember that had gone with them. "I guess we know why the power just went out--that city's responsible! Its mere presence is making everything go haywire!"

"Probably a result of its trip through time and space," said Jenny thoughtfully. She sensed that the younger ones were clueless, so she filled them in on the theories that she had heard. "A few scientists guessed that this city came from the future. A temporal distortion in that era might have caused it to be hurtled back into the past, into this very time period--most likely at random. The energies it's giving off supports this claim, and I guess that's why all the power went off."

"But why are there lights on in the city?" asked Brock. Jenny paused and shook her head slowly.

"I don't know… We have people running tests even as we speak, but for now, the city's off-limits. I didn't want to send you kids in, but since Team Rocket's involved, I guess I don't have a choice. How strong are your Pokemon?"

"Our Pokemon are second to none!" boasted James proudly. "There is no way that we can be defeated!"

"Maybe, but that Pikachu will be a liability," noted the officer. Pikachu sadly whined out, but Ash had to agree with the woman.

"Sorry, Pikachu. As long as that city's giving off those weird waves, electric Pokemon will be no use. Don't worry, you can still come along!"

"If you plan on defending yourselves, you're going to need a Pokemon that won't be affected by the city's time-space influence," suggested Jenny. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a Pokeball for Ash to borrow. "Here, this might help. It's a Kadabra, a psychic Pokemon. Its powers might be increased with all those weird waves radiating everywhere." Ash understood and took the ball into his possession. He then turned around and gazed at the dark city before him, the one classified as ZERO City, and swallowed down a huge gulp of nervousness. It seemed to grow more foreboding by the minute.

"Well, let's not waste time," said Jessie. "Come on. Those two have had plenty of time to run amok by now. Remember, they _did_ come here before us." The others agreed and slowly followed Jessie inside, vanishing behind a thick cloud of pollution. Officer Jenny whispered out a good luck prayer, and was just about to turn around and work on some tests when she heard two sharp cries.

"Ha… HAAALLP!!! The City…! The… the city!!"

"Terrible powers! Terrible creatures! Vat a _nightmare!_" Jenny gasped aloud as two people around her age crawled out of hiding, their clothes ripped and shredded to pieces. Though she saw the torn emblems of Team Rocket on their jackets, Officer Jenny rushed to give them aide. The two scientists were nearly exhausted by the time she came to them, and their wounds would have kept any hospital busy.

"What happened? Tell me what happened!" she demanded. The two scientists, William and Bonney, each let out a cough and wearily looked up at the officer.

"It… is… too terrible…" murmured the female. "Dere… vas… nossing… ve could… do…"

"Aye… A great… monster… lies within…" croaked the male. They passed out, and Jenny barked for a medical team to come help. As the two scientists were rushed to an ambulance, she couldn't help the terrible feeling inside of her, like she had just written a death sentence to each of the five young ones--and with permanent red ink, to boot.

The five friends explored ZERO City carefully. Not only was the sky blotted with layers of dark smog (and other forms of eerie blackness), but the city itself was no place for the casual traveler. It was dark and mechanical, and as cold and hard as steel. The buildings that loomed overhead were like great giants dominating the land, void of souls and life; the people that wandered the streets were dressed in flashy garbs, but not a one of them looked bright enough to exude any cheer. There was an emptiness in their eyes, like their spirits had been taken by living all their lives in that bleak metropolis.

The friends all stuck together, any semblance of mistrust or dissent long since past. Jessie and James had only recently earned the friendship of their younger companions, but even if they had still been employed by Team Rocket, they would have kept closer still in the foreboding city. There was an aura of fear and uncertainty in the area: there were no plants, nor even a blade of grass or a stray leaf, and the sun did not shine at all, even though it was a cheery day "outside". The streets seemed made out of metal, and not concrete or stone, and in the dark shadows of the corners and alleys, the whisper of otherworldly creatures drifted across the suburb.

Ash wanted to hail a ride so his friends wouldn't have to walk through the desolate land of metal and smoke, but he did not even trust the transports that sometimes flew across the streets. They resembled hovercrafts, but smaller, and only touched the ground to release their passengers. Neon signs above their heads gave off a sick light; the lamps on the streets and the eerie glowing light from the windows of the buildings were the only source of illumination. It was a terrifying place, with the feeling of evil and cruelty in it, and if the threat of Team Rocket had not been hanging over their heads, they would not have taken a single step inside.

"What do you think they could be looking for?" asked Misty in a hushed voice. Jessie and James, who knew Team Rocket best, could easily answer her.

"This place is beyond the technology of our age," he said. "Everything is years ahead of our time. If we know Team Rocket, they'd send their best agents to look around and take as much of the technology and information that they could. I don't think we have to tell you what would happen if our old boss got a hold of devices from the future."

Ash, Brock, and Misty only dared to consider the possibilities.

"It's a big place, so they'd probably only take something very important," noted Jessie. "If this city has a Pokecenter, they'd probably go there first and download information about all kinds of Pokemon. Since this place is from the future, I'm sure that there'd be a lot of juicy tidbits about Pokemon that even Old Man Mel wouldn't know about."

"And they'd probably use that for their advantage!" exclaimed Brock. He balled up his fist and held it high for all to see. "We can't let that happen! We have to find the Pokecenter!"

"If I know my Pokecenters, it's probably around the center of the city!" exclaimed Ash. He looked around, first at where they had been, and pointed to a very bleak area before them. "Look, we've already been there…… so the center must be _there_!" James and Jessie both got a good look at the area he was pointing at, and to say that they couldn't wait to dive in there was a big lie.

"Ahhh, no WAY am I going in that spooky place!" he exclaimed, grabbing onto his partner. "It's so dark and creepy! Who knows what's in there!"

"I agree!" stated Jessie, who had grabbed onto her partner. "Kid, there's no way that you'll lead us in that horrible place! It's not worth it!"

"You cowards!" shouted Ash boldly. "This is coming from two of the most notorious members of Team Rocket? You never let anything get in your way before; why are you so afraid now!?" James and Jessie quivered, and turned to face Ash with big whiny faces.

"But… it's so dark…"

"Oh, brother…" Ash moaned out in annoyance, and stepped towards the dark center of town. He was not always renowned for his fear, and though he agreed with his older friends, he knew that it was the only way to go. Brock and Misty gave their friends sympathetic stares, and slowly followed Ash.

"Don't worry, we're scared too--but if we don't go in there, then Team Rocket will end up ruling the world! This technology and information could turn anything or anybody into a big power, so just think of what it could do to Rocket!"

"He's right," said Misty. "Come on, we'll walk with you. I'm not about to abandon my friends. Here, take my hand." She offered her hand, and Jessie tentatively took it. Poor James nearly snapped her bones apart as he clutched onto her hand, and with Brock holding his, the four tamely followed Ash into the one place in the city where none of them should have went into…

---------------

Together, Marion and Morrison slowly processed information inside of the disks they had brought with them. The Pokecenter located somewhere deep inside the city held a vast bank of knowledge for them to digest, perhaps too much for their disks to contain. They had already filled a whole package of disks with Pokemon knowledge, but barely scratched the surface in terms of what was left over. Marion hissed out impatiently as the scores of data was processed, and chewed on her lip while more and more disks filled up. Individually, each disk, whether floppy, hard, or compact, could hold somewhere between half a megabyte and two, so to have them all fill up so quickly was a little unnerving.

"The boss will definitely be pleased with this," grumbled Morrison emptily. He packed in more disks, downloaded information, and stored them away as soon as they filled up to the brim. It was a tedious cycle, and he grew concerned as he was running out of space to copy information on. Marion completed her last download, packing in all the disks she had with her in a large bag. With a heave, she lifted it up and whistled.

"That's a lot of junk we just copied," she whispered in awe. "And to think, this bag only has about 40% of the data. What about you?"

"I've got the same," grunted Morrison as he lifted his bag up. "Eighty percent… that's unbelievable! And there's still so much to learn! This place really is unlike anything else I've ever seen…" Marion silently nodded her head, and gave her bag to the much-stronger Morrison to carry. Just before she left, she decided to upload one more thing from the database, just for fun. She typed in several keys and began to do some research, and found something that piqued her interest immediately.

"_Hello_," she sang in a wily voice, "what do we have _here_??"

----------

Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty arrived in the darkest part of the city, and aimed their feet towards the Pokecenter, one that was bathed in a frightening black fog. The door was rusted shut, and only opened when the combined might of the five yanked on it. They found themselves coming into a single-room facility that looked like it had been used recently. A counter greeted them first, with a mechanical creature standing behind it. To each side of the counter were two terminals with flashing buttons, jacks, levers, and switches--probably where the information was kept. Misty and Brock walked towards one of the terminals and looked at it; Jessie and James examined the other, while Ash talked to the robot.

"Look, Togepi!" pointed Misty. "Most everything in this place is covered with dust, but these terminals look like they've just been used!" Her Pokemon squealed out a timid response; Brock rubbed his chin and squinted at the mechanical object. He touched the buttons, bringing up several status screens.

"I'm going to try and see if anything's been downloaded recently," he announced. Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, James and Jessie were looking into the houses of knowledge that the future had stored. Naturally, there was lots of information about the Pokemon they already knew of, and lots more had been added to that old data. New species were categorized and documented as well, but it was not just the Pokemon who were featured. Jessie and James also discovered several technological devices that were related to the Pokemon; two stood out to them more than any other.

"Look, James!" pointed the redhead. "It says here that in this city, there's a radar that can track down any Pokemon anywhere in the world! It uses the energy of the creatures and hones in on their individual signals! …Or, at least, that's what I think it does…"

"That's amazing!" he exclaimed. "Do you know what would happen if somebody from 'our time' got a hold of this thing? They'd be able to find any Pokemon, anywhere, without any effort at all! What a convenience! The old boss would have gone nuts if he got one of those!"

"Let me see that!" shouted Ash. He squeezed in between his two friends, and read up on the aforementioned Radar. The data stated that it was locked away in the city, inside a small building that kept the radar on display. The people of ZERO City apparently had little use for it, or else they once did but now considered the object unimportant, but that definitely would not stop the deadly new members of Team Rocket from finding it.

"There's something else over here," pointed Misty as Brock scanned the endless supply of data. "It says here that there had been a very recent discovery in terms of Pokeball creation. Scientists and engineers had been studying the physics of the famed 'Master Ball', in which only one of its kind exists. They devoted much time, income, and energy to cracking the code of the Master Ball, for the sole purpose of mass-producing them for the general public!"

"No way!" exclaimed Ash. He rushed over to the other terminal, and read up on the Master Ball Production Project along with Brock and Misty.

"Yes way!" she insisted. "Look! It says here, 'In the year something-something, the secret of the Master Ball was finally unlocked. Scientists now have the means to mass-produce the ball, so that its powers can be distributed to the general public. Pokemon trainers and users everywhere will now enjoy the luxuries of the Master Ball without the strain of battling powerful Pokemon. The blueprint for construction of the Pokeball is in……' Uhh… I can't read that word."

"I-E-R-O-J-E-R-A-X-A. Ierojeraxa?" guessed Brock, first spelling the name out then pronouncing it slowly. He shrugged, and Misty continued reading.

"'Mass-produced Master Balls will be available to the public sometime between September and January of this year. They are expected to come in at 5,000 gold pieces each'. Wow, that's expensive!"

"Having a Master Ball in your possession certainly would make Pokemon hunting a lot easier," mentioned James. "And if somebody had this radar with them, then…" He froze suddenly, and dared to think of the horrifying possibilities. He quickly leaped to his feet and ran out of the building as fast as he could, the terror of the city no longer an issue for him. Everyone else watched him leave in confusion, but then it hit them as well that if Team Rocket got hold of the Radar and the Blueprint, then…

"Huh? Oh no! We've got to stop them!" The other four ran out, and desperately followed the trail of their adversaries as the race for the Radar began.

James and Jessie had read that the radar was locked inside a nearby building, far away from the grasp of most civilians. Marion and Morrison, however, had memorized the position, and were racing towards the building with all speed. They could afford to ignore the other technological advances that ZERO City had; they already had a treasure trove of information, and even with that, Giovanni would have been pleased. If they found the Radar or even the Blueprint, however, then Team Rocket would literally become unstoppable. It was now no longer a mere hunt for Pokemon or knowledge; it was a race for the dominance of the world, with the most deadly enemies anyone could make currently in the lead.

The five friends summoned their two-fastest Pokemon, a Rapidash and a Fearow, and climbed on their backs as they sped across the city. The people of ZERO stared at the creatures and their owners in awe as they made their way through the dark streets and corridors, and wondered why any person would ever be in that kind of hurry. They did not realize that the deadly Marion and the lethal Morrison were about to take the first step in conquering the world of Pokemon, nor did they know just how close the duo was to actually fulfilling that goal.

In a building not too far from the Pokecenter, both assassins had already made it to the floor where the Radar was (they recognized it from the data pictures they had seen). Morrison smashed the glass with his elbow, and flicked away the sharp edges before pulling out the Radar. It was about the size of a large handheld radio, or perhaps a portable television, and had a large screen that would be able to detect any Pokemon in the known world. Neither member of Team Rocket knew how to work the thing, but that was where William and Bonney would come in handy. For the moment, Marion held onto the thing, and smiled in victory.

"Well, that was easy," she sighed. "Let's go get the blueprint for those Master Balls, and we'll be done." Morrison nodded his head in agreement.

"Not so fast there!!" shouted a voice from across the room. The gigantic killer grunted as he spotted three juvenile delinquents and two washed-up Rockets, with several Pokemon surrounding them. He grinned, showing off his steel teeth, and crossed his arms.

"Well well, if it isn't our little friends from before. I must say, it's quite a surprise to see such little children wandering around a frightening place like this. What are you all doing here, might I ask?"

"We're here to stop you from taking that radar!" shouted Ash. Morrison chuckled, something that sounded more like a lion's growl than a laugh, and towered over the five of them like a pillar of unstoppable power.

"I see. Well, if you can take it from us, then it is yours." He and Marion smiled wickedly, and growled out their powerful Team Rocket motto with pride.

"Prepare for danger!" she snarled, curling her clawed gauntlets up like an animal.

"And wrath from a stranger!" growled Morrison, flexing his massive muscles.

"To ignite the world in devastation!"

"To unite all chaos within all nations!"

"To proclaim all concepts of anarchy and hate!"

"To set the world for a Doomsday date!"

"MARION!"

"MORRISON!"

"Team Rocket! Destroying everything within our path!" The blonde finished off her cry with a flair, snarling like an uncontrollable force of nature.

"Surrender now or feel our wrath!" The large man finished by exposing his steel teeth, like the maw of a shark, and his brown eyes lit up in fire.

It was like the entire room was engulfed in flames, merely from the powerful speech of the dangerous duo. Jessie and James had always entered in with something flowery, while Butch and Cassidy brought forth an iron fist of power and pride. But the motto of Morrison and Marion was soaked with conflagration and war, where the true might of Team Rocket struck complete fear into every heart and ear and mind that heard them. It was a war-cry of apocalyptic proportions, and it succeeded in shirking back the younger ones.

"You… you don't scare us!" managed Misty. She sent her Starmie to tackle the two, but Morrison merely slapped the creature away. Psyduck, ever unreliable, waddled forward and tried to scramble their brains with its mindless stare, but Marion merely kicked it away. Misty spat fire at her "useless" Pokemon, and prepared to unleash the Lapras that Ash had trusted to her. The large creature spat a powerful gush of water, but both assassins dove out of the way easily. Never did they send their own Pokemon to battle; they liked fighting on their own.

Morrison charged in and clobbered the poor Lapras into unconsciousness with a single blow, and then slapped Misty aside with his large paw. Ash, Brock, and Jessie screamed out for their friend; James, meanwhile, called his Wheezing and Victreebell (which, for once, did not try and eat his head). A cloud of smoke filled the entire room, sending thick pollution into the lungs of the powerful assassins, while Victreebell held them tight with its vines.

"Hurry, Rapidash!" shouted James. "Ignite _their_ world in devastation!" The Rapidash obeyed, and sent balls of fire raining down on the duo. They struck both of them hard, but in the darkness, it was difficult to see anything. Suddenly, the smoke cleared, revealing a Venusaur snarling back with a deadly wind attack. The cloud of smoke transferred to James, and the razor leaves shredded apart the Victreebell.

"You are a fool!" cackled Marion wildly. "Did you think your pathetic efforts could really stand up to us? Here, try this on for size!" The maniacal female charged forward and decked James squarely in the jaw, and whirled around to kick Jessie before she even knew what happened. Morrison easily smacked Brock and Ash to the floor, and his Venusaur blew away the cloud of smog so it would no longer obstruct them. He defeated Wheezing and Rapidash in a single punch, and just for good measure, he kicked poor Pikachu and Togepi halfway across the room.

"Without that elderly gentleman helping them, these young ones are nothing more than novices!" he exclaimed. "Marion, let us not waste our time with these children. I would like to ask you to continue our journey. After all, we are on the Boss' payroll."

"Yeah, we wouldn't wanna make him mad," she snickered. With a wicked smile, she bowed out of the room, leaving the five friends battered and bruised. "Oh, on second thought," she added, "I wouldn't want to leave without giving them a parting gift. Here, kids! Catch!" Marion lobbed six large Volteons in the room, and laughed maniacally as she barricaded the door shut. Jessie moaned wearily, and managed to look up to see the deranged orbs cackling madly. Her eyes bulged out in horror as she realized that they were all about to explode!

"Oh, no! They're… self-detonating! …James! Brock! Ash! Misty! WAKE UP! MOVE IT! THIS WHOLE ROOM IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!!!!" The frantic redhead shook her friends violently, but all she got out of them were moans of painful agony. Beads of sweat soaked her terrified face as she stared back at the kamikaze Pokemon, and her pulse froze just briefly as the seconds counted down.

"What…… what am I going to… do…?"

--------------------

Marion and Morrison smiled victoriously as a distant explosion rocked the city. The flaming columns of fire and the shooting streaks of smoke and flame lit up the dark city for a moment, and people gasped and screamed in surprise as one of their buildings was destroyed by an unknown arsonist. The two members of Team Rocket shared a brief moment of complete success before moving on to their next destination. All they needed to do was find the blueprints for mass-producing Master Balls, and the world would be in their hands.

**__**

To be continued…

Closing comments: I haven't played Pokemon in forever and a day, so you'll excuse me if I don't know many of the creatures, or if I get their attributes mixed up. On a side note, just like Jessie & James and Butch & Cassidy, Marion and Morrison are a tribute to (of course) Marion Morrison, better known as John Wayne, and William and Bonney pays homage to William Bonney--alias Billy the Kid.


	2. Blastoff for the Blueprint

__

Prologue

The maniacal Marion charged forward and decked James squarely in the jaw, and whirled around to kick Jessie before she even knew what happened. Morrison easily smacked Brock and Ash to the floor, and his Venusaur blew away the cloud of smog so it would no longer obstruct them. He defeated Wheezing and Rapidash in a single punch, and just for good measure, he kicked poor Pikachu and Togepi halfway across the room.

"Without that elderly gentleman helping them, these young ones are nothing more than novices!" he exclaimed. "Marion, let us not waste our time with these children. I would like to ask you to continue our journey. After all, we are on the Boss' payroll."

"Yeah, we wouldn't wanna make him mad," she snickered. With a wicked smile, she bowed out of the room, leaving the five friends battered and bruised. "Oh, on second thought," she added, "I wouldn't want to leave without giving them a parting gift. Here, kids! Catch!" Marion lobbed six large Volteons in the room, and laughed maniacally as she barricaded the door shut. Jessie moaned wearily, and managed to look up to see the deranged orbs cackling madly. Her eyes bulged out in horror as she realized that they were all about to explode!

"Oh, no! They're… self-detonating! …James! Brock! Ash! Misty! WAKE UP! MOVE IT! THIS WHOLE ROOM IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!!!!" The frantic redhead shook her friends violently, but all she got out of them were moans of painful agony. Beads of sweat soaked her terrified face as she stared back at the kamikaze Pokemon, and her pulse froze just briefly as the seconds counted down.

"What…… what am I going to… do…?"

With the seconds ticking down, Jessie tried to ram the door down, but even if it hadn't been barricaded, she was not strong enough on her own to move it any. The Volteons in the room shivered with sick glee, and precious time ran thin as Jessie searched the room for any way out. There was a window, but…

"It'll have to do," she grunted. Jessie picked up Misty and Ash, hoisting their arms across her shoulders. She quickly dragged them to the window, and seeing that there was a safe spot to land on, in theory, she ditched them. As she turned around, the Volteons looked ready to blow them all to pieces, and the poor woman would've had a heart attack if she didn't see James and Brock trying to stand.

"Ughn… did… somebody get the license plate of that tank?"

"No time to talk now!" yelled Jessie as she shoved the others towards the window. James protested until he saw the suicidal Pokemon laughing at him, and scrambled out of the room faster than anything Jessie had seen. Brock didn't need to be prodded any further either, and hastily left with one ex-Rocket ahead of him and the other behind. After a nasty but sufferable fall, the five friends found themselves in a long hallway, injured but alive, and ran as fast as they could towards the closest door in an attempt to escape the blast.

Brock quickly summoned his Onyx as the seconds dwindled, and used its thick hide to absorb the blast. They all just barely made it a few rooms down the hall when the explosion ripped through the building, and a sea of flames followed them fiercely, devouring the hallway. The rock-like snake groaned in misery as the fires torches his backside, but since rock-Pokemon were strong against fire, the Onyx would take the punishment and laugh at it later.

Everyone dove into another room for cover, allowing the explosion to die down and the flames to calm. A thick cloud of smoke followed, but for the moment, the danger was over. Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty spent a few minutes coughing for breath and healing their wounds. Once the tremors stopped and things grew calm again, sighs of relief escaped their mouths, and they all agreed that before they did anything else, they would need some rest.

**__**

ZERO City

By Al Kristopher

****

Part Two: Blastoff for the Blueprint

Marion Jane Burke was born twenty-nine years earlier, in the deep part of the slums.

Marion's life in the slums was a series of one nightmare after the other. Constant starvation, sickness, and poverty nipped at her elbows every waking hour, and as she slept, the darkness covered her with a blanket of chilling fear. Her family had been so poor that her mother and father were forced to sell young Marion into slavery so that they could eat. She left a home that had no love, and went into one that had no hope, crying and wailing miserably all the way. She was only eight years old.

Marion was shoved into a guild of assassins, thieves, con artists, and many other shady characters of the underworld. As a young child, not even a teenager yet, Marion would have to deal with the cruel stares and crueler desires of the deadly clientele, and was forced to grow out of childhood at a rate that would've made any normal person scream. She faced the threat of being killed, raped, and robbed every day, as a helpless young girl standing in a crowd of butchers and thieves--but she learned to grow strong quickly, and with such horrors assaulting her young mind, she learned to survive at a very hasty rate.

For four years, Marion toned herself into a woman that could defend against the den of snakes she had been thrust into. Her body grew, and grew, until it resembled a woman and not a child. Though barely twelve years old, Marion was slowly being accepted into the deadly society she lived in, and soon grew to the point where she could content with assassins and thieves three times her age. The leaders of this "society" saw that Marion's life in the guild had sharpened her body and skills far beyond any normal person, and decided to initiate her into their ranks.

In order to gain the full approval and respect of the guild, Marion had to end somebody's life. In a strange twist of irony, the unlucky victims chosen for her were her own parents.

Marion did the job without regret or remorse, and was accepted into the society. There, skilled masters trained her ferociously, pushing her abilities even further than even she knew they could go. Her strength and speed were increased, as was her stamina and bodily defense, and a vast knowledge of fighting techniques were imprinted into her brain. There was no love between assassins, so all of Marion's emotions were robbed from her during her bleak life--all, that is, except for those most savage.

Marion's rage was intense and unstoppable, and made her more ferocious than a pride of lions in a fight, so she kept it. She also kept her pride, always her pride, so that she could spite those who were weak. She did not know fear at all, only surprise and amazement, but despite her training and her ferocity, Marion also kept her thoughtfulness, and her calmness, even in the darkest of storms.

When she left the guild to work as a freelancer… after slaughtering everyone there in the process… Marion was a tall woman of imposing power and an icy stare. Her body was lean and svelte, very supple and flexible, yet hard and not easy to break. She was a beautiful woman, but the beauty was deadly, like a few gorgeous fish in the sea that were poison, or colorful flowers that could kill unaware creatures. She had shining light-blonde hair that trailed down past her shoulders like a rich waterfall, and eyes that were made out of razor-sharp glaciers: cold, deliberate, patient, and deadly.

She wore dark pants and a solid blue button-down jacket-shirt to conceal herself better in dark places, and over her shoulders she wore a snowy-white mantle that never seemed to stain or soil. Her hands were surprisingly smooth and delicate, but in battle, they were covered by steel gauntlets that had claws at the tip of each finger, enabling Marion to rip through any opposition, organic or otherwise. A nasty scar ran across her otherwise flawless face, from one cheekbone to the other, just beneath her eyes and across her nose.

Marion had been employed by a few major underworld powers in her life, and was always loyal as long as the money came in. She seldom loved her employers, though, and was rumored to be the cause of one of their deaths. In battle, she fought like a force of nature and not like a human, and would not stop her insane assault even if her body was being destroyed. Pain and injury were of no consequence to her at all, and perhaps even Death itself would have been unable to stop her.

This was just one of the new members of Team Rocket.

---------------

Brock decided to take his rage out on the floor, and slammed his fist against it. He growled and bared his teeth, and slammed against the floor again, but only succeeded in scattering dust and injuring his hand. With a grunt, he sighed and hung his head, detesting the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth. It was the same all around, but only he expressed his anger outwardly. Ash was staring at the floor, completely motionless save for the movement of his chest as he breathed, and Misty was more or less the same. James and Jessie both kept to themselves, basking in their first taste of loss outside of Team Rocket.

"I can't believe they took it!" exclaimed Brock angrily. "They took that Pokemon Radar right from under our nose! We couldn't do anything about it!"

"That's right; we couldn't," pointed Jessie. She gave him a calm, reasoning look, and emphasized. "Those two were stronger than all of us. They not only had the upper hand in sheer brute force, but they came here well before us. Remember, Officer Jenny told us that those Rockets were here while we were still in the city, so they had a big head start on us. Frankly, I'm surprised that we were even able to catch up to them."

"What Jessie is trying to say is that you shouldn't beat yourself up for something you didn't have any control over," pointed James gently. "Sure, we're all a little mad, but it's to be expected. Our old boss didn't hire a pair of spring chickens when he got rid of Jess and me; he got two of the _best_. That was evident long before we even knew of Old Man Mel. There was no way that we could have beaten them, at least not in a battle."

"So what are we supposed to do?!" he demanded, turning around fiercely. Ash and Misty slowly broke out of their trance and joined him in an effort to comfort him, but they were just as shaken as he. Brock shivered, clenching his fist tightly in anger. "I… we… we never lost anything like this to Team Rocket…"

"I don't think you lost _anything_ to Team Rocket, unless it was time," noted Jessie.

"That doesn't help," he sighed. She frowned and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry."

"Well we can't just give up now," stated Misty gently, cradling Togepi in her arms. "Just because we lost one item doesn't mean that it's the end of the world. There's still that blueprint they're after, right? Maybe if we can get that before they do, we'll have the advantage again."

"They have a head start…" muttered Brock apprehensively. He paused, and added something a little more encouraging. "But… if we have a chance… then I'll take it. I apologize; I'm just not used to losing to Team Rocket."

"Let's hope you don't get used to it," remarked James with a smile. He gave his friend a gentle shove, and stood up out of the ruined rubble of the room they had all landed in. They were tired, bruised, and a little burnt from the recent fire, but they were far from out of the game. With the encouragement of each other, the five friends stood up and began their search anew. Misty and Brock had learned where the blueprint for mass-producing Master Pokeballs was located, and they could only hope that their deadly rivals did not. It was going to be an interesting race either way.

The five friends gradually made their way out of the now-ruined building that once held the Pokemon Radar. It had been halfway destroyed by the exploding Voltorbs, resulting in a large portion of the building being twisted and torn completely out of shape. A pillar of thick smoke was still rising up out of the flaming remains, with a few large fires burning brightly, and ashes and sparks being spewed out everywhere made the scene a little more gruesome. The fire was burning bright, bringing temporary light to that part of the city, but the smoke rising upwards sent more darkness to the sky. It was actually a bit depressing.

"We'd better start searching for those blueprints now," suggested Jessie as everyone stepped clear of the building. "Did anybody print out a map of this place while we were in that Pokecenter?"

"I got one from that robot from behind the counter," said Ash. He waved a map in the air, and tacked it up against the wall of the building so they all could see it. They easily figured out where they were on the large drawing, because the Pokecenter was plainly indicated, and their current position was very close to it. Everyone scanned through the map carefully, and found that the place they were going to was on the opposite side of the city, the far northeastern block. The path there was twisting and treacherous, with plenty of ways to get lost, so Ash drew a very careful line towards the destination so they'd know where to go.

"I guess that's really the best we can do," said Misty. "It's going to be a hard trip no matter what route we take, but at least we know where to go. I don't think we should draw any suspicion to ourselves when we're traveling, though. We wouldn't want those other two people to find out that we know where to go." James nodded his head in agreement and pointed to himself.

"Sneaking around is our specialty. Those two may be Team Rocket's most dangerous agents, but when it comes to stealth operations, nobody is as good as we are!"

"It's true," sighed Jessie proudly. "I've lost count over how many times we were able to fool you three with our disguises--and with a small change of clothes, we'll be able to disappear entirely!" Ash, Brock, and Misty then observed that their one-time enemies were indeed dressed to hide well. They didn't have their Team Rocket shirts or jackets, but instead, they both had the short-sleeved black shirts that went underneath. James had on his usual white business pants, and Jessie her white mini-skirt, but if either one of them switched their white to black, then they would indeed vanish easily.

"Right! And I think we should do the same!" exclaimed Ash. Everyone agreed, and split into two groups so they could change into something a little more suitable for the environment. ZERO City was a place covered in darkness, where even the brightest lights flickered dimly, so it would be child's play to sneak around wearing black.

With their new gear on, the five friends set about their journey, and followed Ash's directions as closely as they could as they made their way into the thick of the city. It had not been that long ago when Jessie and James were unworthy of trust, and were viewed as annoyances and backstabbers. They had been enemies for ages, it seemed, and even during those rare times of cooperation, the two ex-Rockets had always been unreliable. Being expelled from the Team was probably the best thing that ever happened to either one of them--Rocket had been secretly suffocating them ever since they joined on.

Now that they had true friends and a true purpose, Jessie and James looked back at their past "life" with contempt. Nobody had ever appreciated them in Team Rocket, or commended them for their work. They were hardly even recognized as agents, and with the exception of their original mission (capture a particularly rare Pikachu, that of which now belonged to Ash), they had been trusted with little else. It had been through the influence of their parents that Jessie and James entered into the ranks of Rocket at all, and it had been this influence that kept them in even when they failed. Giovanni had known and respected the seniors well, and owed them a great debt for assisting him in "the old days". The debt, however, was finally cancelled after many disappointments, and the son and daughter of four very good friends were released into the world and away from Rocket.

But that was a good thing. Jessie and James were never appreciated in Rocket, and except for a few circles of supporters (and maybe Meowth), they didn't have any friends. Few people liked them, and even when they _did_ succeed, Giovanni and their other superiors looked down on them with contempt. They hardly did anything worth his praise, and were seen as nuisances, or worse, examples of what _not_ to do while working for Rocket. As strange as it seemed, being fired had probably saved them in the long run. Both Jessie and James found everything that they had been lacking in the most unlikely place, and in the matter of a month, fit into their new crowd as if it was meant to be that way all along.

Ash, Brock, and Misty didn't trust them at first, but after demonstrating their reliability in the Legendary Pokemon Master incident, they became instant friends. The three younger ones now looked at their former enemies with trust, respect, admiration, and perhaps even love. James and Jessie were honestly reliable, and reliably honest, and more competent as Pokemon battlers than they first appeared to be. They were both good people, and after being cleansed of the poison that was Team Rocket, they really did become two wonderful characters, who were worthy of trust and love and camaraderie. They were _changed_, outwardly and inwardly, and would stay with their new friends until their deaths.

They both smiled at their friends--not for any particular reason--and brightened up the darkness that was ZERO City, just by a little.

--------------------

Somewhere deep in the mountainous area of the world, nestled in a small burg of quiet people who led simple lives, a nightmare among nightmares was born. Morrison Hickok Glidden was unlike any child that ever lived in that little village: he had been born with an abnormal growth hormone, giving him gigantism that stood him apart from all the others. Morrison, or "Big Moe" as people called him, had been a very ungentle giant for most of his life. He became the main muscle of a gang when he was just twelve, and used his imposing size and unusual strength to threaten those who stood against his fellows.

Morrison was no bully, though. He was exceptionally polite, and usually very quiet, no matter how deep his voice was. He never fought unless necessary, and respected the elderly with a passion. But in the end, he was the most powerful, imposing, and dominating force in the whole town, and struck fear into his enemies. One day, Morrison got too big for the town, and moved out into the world. He began to work for the underworld and the Mafia, and ended up being a terrific contract killer. Morrison was like a mountain, huge and unstoppable, with the power of an avalanche and the defensive capabilities of a chunk of granite. He could crush a man's ribs with just one hand, and for show, could rip through telephone books like he was ripping through paper.

Morrison's talents did not go unnoticed, and soon he was working for the very high rollers. His loyalty was strong but not absolute, and he was more shrewd than people thought. He was not a hulking mass of brainless muscle; Morrison was amazingly clever, and exercised his guile as much as he exercised his body. He would support one Mafia family until things turned grim, and would silently side for those who were in favor of winning. Sometimes, he would even execute members of "his" own family, all the while making sure that no future employer knew of his two-faced natures.

A brutal fight during one vicious war caused Morrison to lose all the teeth in his mouth. His insurance paid for dentures, but the Don he was working for at that moment decided on a better idea. He hired a special dentist to weld in indestructible steel teeth into Morrison's mouth, objects of powerful strength that would never break or go dull. The teeth turned out to be his trademark move, as Morrison had a habit of biting off any bodily appendage that protruded out, like ears or fingers or a nose.

Morrison was an inch or two over seven feet, towering over most people with his size and muscle mass. He had a shuck of dark black hair on his head that never seemed to be combed, and usually wore a jumpsuit of color that matched the environment he would be working in (in the case of ZERO City, he wore black). He had dull brown eyes and a face that was neither in a rage nor in a stupor, but passive and thoughtful and sometimes even friendly. He was a complex person, lethal and cunning, and had experience and power on his side. He never lost or failed, with one recent exception, and was worth every gold piece that Giovanni laid down for his service.

It was this man that had joined Team Rocket, and he was just half of the dreaded team.

---------------

There was only one advantage that the five friends had that Marion and Morrison did not, and it was because they knew the general location of the Master Ball blueprint, whereas the duo did not. Marion and Morrison had downloaded a lot of information, but only looked at a few scant details. They knew where the Pokemon Radar was, but read only a cursory amount concerning the blueprint. They knew it existed and what it did, but to the fortunate luck of Ash and his friends, they didn't know where to look.

But that never stopped a Rocket.

The ultimate destination of the duo was a place called Ierojeraxa, or simply IJA. It was an old factory that had gone out of business a few months ago in ZERO City's timeline, and the only place that preserved the Master Ball blueprint. Personally, the people of ZERO saw the blueprint as an antique, something used for an obsolete system and nothing of any real interest to them. It seemed that Pokemon did not wander the streets of the black city--neither the Rockets or the five friends saw any species wandering around, except for their own--and so, a radar to find them and a Master Ball to catch them would be useless.

But that was okay, considered the deadly duo. If the things were so useless, then they would not be missed if some clever thief stole them. It didn't matter that they didn't know where to look--the city was not _that_ big, and there were plenty of people around to interrogate. In fact, Marion decided to ask around herself, and convinced Morrison to do the same. They were both very exceptional when it came to pumping people for information. Since it was her idea, Marion walked up to a person and inquired first, using civility and peace just like Morrison did.

"A place that has a blueprint for Pokemon Master Balls?" repeated the person. "You must mean the Ierojeraxa building! Well, it's on the northeast side of the city, but I don't know why you'd want to go there! There's nothing there, unless you mean the blueprint."

"And how would we get there?" she asked calmly, keeping her hands (and her clawed gauntlets) in her robe. The man shrugged.

"Darned if I know. I've never been down there myself. If it's a map of the city you're wanting, they have a few over there in that information building, waaaaaaaay over yonder." Marion looked in the direction he was pointing, and could faintly see a building hidden in the misty-black air. She smiled wolfishly.

"Thanks, mister. You just put yourself on my favorites list." She patted his head like a child and walked towards the building, calling Morrison to join her. He didn't move anywhere, so she turned around to see what the problem was.

"Don't bother," he told her. "I found a person who was generous enough to give us two. Here." He tossed her his extra one, and she caught it easily. A brief glimpse at the map told them both that they had a ways to go before they got to their destination. Quietly, Marion walked into the darkness with her hair and cloak billowing, leaving Morrison behind to thank the generous people. It was rare to see either one of them leave a crowd behind without causing some disturbance, though it did happen in some instances.

The two traveled quickly and quietly, the way of the true hunter. They had wanted to pull a transport over to the side and hitch a ride over to the IJA, but they were sure that they didn't have the money needed to hail one. Their Team Rocket badge would most likely be useless as well, but they didn't mind walking, even though the city was polluted and difficult to see in. They were two of the best assassins in the world, and a little environmental danger never stopped them before.

Soon, the streets became abandoned. The buildings began to resemble hollow shells instead of places of residence, and the air stank of emptiness and great ruin. It was like looking at a post-apocalyptic world, with twisted pieces of construction lying around, destroyed bridges sprawled across the highways, blasted roads, and halfway destroyed buildings everywhere. It was a place where demons and ghosts haunted, a more foreboding part of the city, and one that contained a dangerous secret.

From out of nowhere, a terrifying roar preceded the appearance of a humongous creature, large as a whale and so powerful that its footsteps sent the ground shaking. It was a huge beast with big bulging muscles, a mane of wild black hair, and a face of demonic animalism. Two horns, like that of a steer, stuck out and split the sky as the beast shook its head, and Marion and Morrison prepared to face a creature that was nothing less than a behemoth.

"What a gruesome sight," she spat bitterly. "How in the world did this creature get into this city? Did those people know about it?"

"I think we should concern ourselves with eliminating this obstacle first," suggested Morrison. "But let's be careful. I've never seen anything so intimidating and powerful in all my life. It will take us both to defeat this thing." Marion quietly agreed, and sped towards the behemoth like a bullet. With her cloak wide open like the wings of the angel of death, she slashed at the creature with her claws, scarring it but not destroying it. The monster screamed at the sudden attack, and quickly pawed at her with its large arms. Marion hastily leaped away, but had been caught off guard by the surprising speed, and was knocked away.

As she was being tossed aside, Morrison lumbered over to the rear of the monster, intent on attacking it while its attention was diverted. He landed a solid punch in its thigh, but did little other than to draw the beast's eye. It grunted in pain, and slapped at its gigantic attacker with a huge yet speedy tail. Morrison was knocked with a deadly power as the immense tail smacked into him, and withdrew to think of a new strategy. Meanwhile, Marion had leaped back into the battle, and was running circles around the monster while cutting at it with her deadly weapons. She was fast, and evaded the beast's attacks for a little while, but the behemoth caught her with a sudden kick from its rear-left heel. Marion flew backwards, straight into the waiting arms of her partner. He softened her blow and gave her a stony gaze, indicating that their approach needed a new direction.

"I think we need to eliminate that tail first," he said. "After that, disable the front two arms. He should go down easily after that. _Show no mercy_."

"That's the code I live by," she shrugged casually. The two picked themselves up, and charged at the monster again. It slashed at them with its huge paws, but two master killers were difficult to hit with just one hand. Marion kept the monster busy by attacking its face while Morrison ran around it and found the tail. Using the entirety of his bulk, the large assassin tackled the tip of it to the ground, holding it down until his partner could join him.

"Got it!" he shouted. Marion quickly jumped onto the creature's head, and ran down its back before leaping into the air and using her flying momentum to slam her claws against the beast's tail. It was completely cleaved off, leaving nothing but a stump and a screaming monster. It wheeled around with fierce speed and rammed them both in revenge, sending them flying away. Undaunted and hardly even bruised, the two killers stood and decided to take out the arms next. Marion rushed in on its left and quickly raked her claws across its upper limb, digging in massive scars with two fast blows. She ducked as the beast turned to impale her with its horns, and trusted Morrison to eliminate the other arm.

The large assassin was currently holding the powerful paw in his arms, slowly squeezing the life out of it until the bones began to bend. Morrison was a powerful man, but even he had trouble breaking the bones of a behemoth. Still, with a loud scream, he gathered all his strength into one twist, and snapped the monster's arm at the shoulder, rendering it completely useless. The behemoth roared painfully again, limping on its sliced arm and trying desperately to escape. Marion would not have it, and continued to shred up its other arm, until the appendage was so severed that it too was useless.

Without the support of its front arms, the monster fell forward. Marion smiled wickedly and held its horns tight while Morrison climbed up onto its neck. Summoning all his power, he raised his fist high in the air and crashed it down on the behemoth's neck, instantly breaking it and shattering its spinal cord. The monster let out a final groan before it ceased to move, and a victory was now on the hands of the two members of Team Rocket.

"Not too bad of a fight," sighed Marion as she swiped her long blonde hair out of her face. "It's not often that I have to _try_."

"I feel this may be our most difficult fight in this city," mumbled Morrison, leaping off of the beast. He pointed into the distance, where IJA was, indicating that they should leave. "Let's go. Our last obstacle just expired, I think."

"After you."

----------

It was only by their knowledge of the city and their next destination that Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty had any sort of advantage at all. They had been picking through the ruined city for a little more than half an hour, going from the bleak suburbs to the unpopulated area of ruin. It was a place where only the bravest kept their courage, or only the brightest of lights kept burning; everything else was consumed in the horrible vortex. The place reeked of demonic activity, far worse than anything that had ever been faced before by anyone. It did not come as a surprise to the group when they discovered themselves to be holding hands.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," muttered Brock. "I've got a baaaaaad feeling about this."

"We all do," stated Misty softly. "But the only thing we can do now is walk on. We can't let Team Rocket beat us this time, or else the whole world will be under their control! Can you imagine it? That entire organization would have so much knowledge about the future with them!"

"And let's not forget that radar they found!" pointed James. "That thing could find any Pokemon in any location! Old man Giovanni would have no problem amassing a huge collection of rare and powerful Pokemon!"

"And then there's that Master Ball blueprint to worry about!" added Ash. "If Team Rocket is able to make a whole lot of those, then they'll have all the world's Pokemon at their command! I don't wanna even _think_ of what our world would be like in that situation!" He growled, and with such threats looming over their heads, the team of friends walked all the faster. The ruined part of the city was large and dark and desolate, but in the end they all made it through, meeting up with no such obstacles as their archenemies had.

Ierojeraxa was just a factory like any other, with lifeless chimneys reaching for the very skies they had polluted, and broken windows dotting the construction. It was charred and in severe ruin--part of the wall and roof had been completely blown away--but thankfully, the door swung open with little effort. Inside, the team could see a long line of conveyor belts that had been inactive for years, with some kind of furnace-like object at the end of them all and a machine that produced regular Pokeballs at the beginning.

There were no working lights, so everyone used a flashlight to see. They didn't want to search the whole building (after all, they were still being pursued), so the best they could do was split up and search. Thankfully, it didn't take much investigation to find the blueprints. Logical Misty and James thought that it would be in one of the filing cabinets that had been lying around, and they were right.

"Look, here it is, and they even laminated it!" he exclaimed, waving the papers in the air. Jessie smiled at her friend and walked over to get a look at the prints. She could understand little, but only because the method for mass-producing Master Balls was so complicated (and thus, expensive).

"Great work! Now let's get out of here! Use the back way, though, in case they're closer than we think!" Everyone agreed, and plowed through the messy remains of the factory for its back door. Suddenly, the door they were headed towards got blasted off its hinges, and from the other side came the large frame of Morrison, glowering down at the shorter quintet like a lion against a mouse.

"Well! I'm awfully surprised that you all survived that explosion! Remind me never to underestimate those weaker than myself."

"You…!" Ash glared knives at the tall man, and as he turned around, he saw Marion barricading the other door! The two Rockets laughed sickly, closing in on their prey like a pair of sharks surrounding five guppies.

"Well, you managed to impress us by getting this far," she said in a haughty voice, "but I'm afraid this is where your road ends. See kids, you're not dealing with those pathetic excuses of Team Rocket agents you're so used to fighting. They come and go and make a nuisance of themselves, but what harm have they really done?!"

"You watch your language!" snarled Jessie. "James and I were part of the elite forces!"

"That's a laugh," chuckled Morrison. "You'd have been better _janitors_ in that place than real Team Rocket agents. And unlike you, the two of us are _killers_. We have no remorse or regret; we do not know pain, we do not know fear, and we both jeer into the face of death!"

"So you'd better prepare for danger!" hissed Marion, slithering towards them like a deadly snake. Morrison crossed his arms, and lumbered in to close the gap.

"And wrath… from a stranger!"

"To ignite the world in devastation!"

"To unite all chaos within all nations!"

"To spread the truths of anarchy and hate!"

"To set the world for a Doomsday date!"

"MARION!"

"MORRISON!"

"Team Rocket--destroying everything in our path!"

"Surrender now or feel our wrath!"

"Doesn't Team Rocket ever get tired of saying their mottos?" wondered Ash. Marion and Morrison laughed cruelly at the boy, and closed in to surround the five friends. James clutched onto the blueprint for dear life, and would have seen it shredded to pieces before he allowed it to fall into the hands of his enemy.

"Stay back, or else this thing is torn in two!" he shouted. Morrison grinned, showing off his steel teeth as he called James' bluff.

"Oh? Go ahead! A little patience and a lot of tape will fix any problems you may inflict on it!"

"Then we'll just have to burn it! Charmander!" Brock called forth his fire Pokemon, but Marion quickly stopped it by unleashing the dreaded Gyarados, who completely pummeled and soaked the poor little dragon. She laughed maniacally as Morrison brought out a Wigglytuff, and as the bloated creature sang, the two Rockets covered their ears and waited for the five friends to faint. They had all experienced the lulling song of the Jigglypuff before, and could only assume that its evolved form was even stronger, so they protected themselves too.

"Not so fast!" shouted Morrison. He quickly slammed his elbows against their heads, snapping their hands free and knocking more than one unconscious. Marion smiled wickedly and followed his example, and even called back Wigglytuff to make things "more interesting". She easily knocked out the young quintet, and snagged the blueprints for her own.

"Thanks for the present, kid," she grinned as she gave James a gentle kick. "But I don't think we should leave you without a gift. Morrison, I'm going to call Charizard. You take their stuff! This time, there will _be_ no escape." He understood, and began robbing them of their things. He plucked their bags, some of their excess clothes, and even stole away their Pokemon. Pikachu and Togepi tried to fight back, but they were no match against the deadly Rockets. Both Pokemon were captured in a bag, and with a wolfish smile, Marion ordered Charizard to torch the place.

The dragon spewed fire, encompassing the five unconscious people in a circle of powerful fire, and set the remainder of the room ablaze just in case. Marion and Morrison quickly escaped the room before the heat got to them, leaving their only opposition for dead, surrounded by fire. The heat in the room increased and moved closer to the five friends, who were robbed of any items that would have otherwise helped them. Unconscious, unequipped, and completely surrounded by intense flames, it truly looked to be the end for them all…

---------------

"Hello, old man Giovanni?"

"What do you want?" he asked. "Were you successful?" Marion paused just a second for dramatic effect.

"You could say that. Listen, old man. You'll never believe what we just found for you…"

**__**

To be concluded…


	3. Future Fear

__

Prologue

Marion and Morrison laughed cruelly at the boy, and closed in to surround the five friends. James clutched onto the blueprint for dear life, and would have seen it shredded to pieces before he allowed it to fall into the hands of his enemy.

"Stay back, or else this thing is torn in two!" he shouted. Morrison grinned, showing off his steel teeth as he called James' bluff.

"Oh? Go ahead! A little patience and a lot of tape will fix any problems you may inflict on it!"

"Then we'll just have to burn it! Charmander!" Brock called forth his fire Pokemon, but Marion quickly stopped it by unleashing the dreaded Gyarados, who completely pummeled and soaked the poor little dragon. She laughed maniacally as Morrison brought out a Wigglytuff, and as the bloated creature sang, the two Rockets covered their ears and waited for the five friends to faint. They had all experienced the lulling song of the Jigglypuff before, and could only assume that its evolved form was even stronger, so they protected themselves too.

"Not so fast!" shouted Morrison. He quickly slammed his elbows against their heads, snapping their hands free and knocking more than one unconscious. Marion smiled wickedly and followed his example, and even called back Wigglytuff to make things "more interesting". She easily knocked out the young quintet, and snagged the blueprints for her own.

"Thanks for the present, kid," she grinned as she gave James a gentle kick. "But I don't think we should leave you without a gift. Morrison, I'm going to call Charizard. You take their stuff! This time, there will _be_ no escape." He understood, and began robbing them of their things. He plucked their bags, some of their excess clothes, and even stole away their Pokemon. Pikachu and Togepi tried to fight back, but they were no match against the deadly Rockets. Both Pokemon were captured in a bag, and with a wolfish smile, Marion ordered Charizard to torch the place.

The dragon spewed fire, encompassing the five unconscious people in a circle of powerful fire, and set the remainder of the room ablaze just in case. Marion and Morrison quickly escaped the room before the heat got to them, leaving their only opposition for dead, surrounded by fire. The heat in the room increased and moved closer to the five friends, who were robbed of any items that would have otherwise helped them. Unconscious, unequipped, and completely surrounded by intense flames, it truly looked to be the end for them all…

**__**

ZERO City

Part Three: Future Fear

It was a burning inferno of intense heat and flames that surrounded five unconscious young friends. They were trapped on all sides by the wall of fire--trapped, with no way out except through extinction. The flames even mocked them further by moving closer still, edging millimeter by millimeter towards the unmoving ones. The heat was absolutely unbearable, so hot and intense that it would have melted anything it came in contact with--and it was coming in contact with the five friends.

Slowly, Brock wiggled back to life, groaning in misery as he nursed yet another Rocket-inflicted injury. Jessie and James rarely ever hurt him or his two younger friends, and those few injuries were minor wounds, which meant that these two new enemies were in a league all of their own. But Brock had no time to recover; he noticed the flames as soon as his eyes open, and yelled out in horror as they closed in.

"Aaah! The whole room is on fire! We have to get out of here!" He quickly grabbed Ash and shook the poor kid like a rattle, screaming for him to wake up just as Jessie had screamed at them all not too long ago. Ash eventually came to, and when he saw the flames, he completely freaked out as well.

"Oh, no! We're in really big trouble!"

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire, you could say!" shouted Brock. His efforts to lighten the situation were in vain; Ash's efforts to revive his other three friends were not. James woke up on his own and shook Jessie; Misty required a violent shiver before she woke. As the five friends watched helplessly as the wall of flames closed in on them, they all realized that there was something missing from the picture.

"Oh no!" screamed Ash. "Pikachu! He's gone! Pikachu, where are you?"

"Togepi too!" said Misty. She began to shout for her little creature, but it was long gone, far away from the flames and its beloved mistress. Brock growled angrily as he noticed that not only was all the Pokemon gone, but their equipment had been taken as well!

"They took everything!!" he shouted angrily. "This is terrible! How are we gonna get out of here?"

"There's no way that we could run through!" shouted Jessie, raising her arms to shield herself from some stray flames. "Without any Pokemon, we're toast!"

"Burnt toast!" wailed James. He latched onto Jessie tightly, screaming something about how he was too young and good-looking to die. His redheaded counterpart fared no better, and squealed out helplessly as the flames inched closer. Ash wiped the sweat off his forehead and glared into the blaze as he raced for any ideas.

_Okay, Ash--think! You don't have any Pokemon, and the only thing you have with you is your clothes! Team Rocket took everything! How are you going to escape this death trap?? You can't break through; you'll turn into a crisp! The sprinkler system probably doesn't work, and even if it did, those flames are probably too hot! What else do you have? …No! This can't be right! I don't have anything!_

"I… don't know what I'm going to do…" he mumbled in defeat. Ash backed up, bumping into his other four friends as they tried to stay as far away from the flames as possible. It truly looked like it would be the end for everybody, and with no equipment, no Pokemon, and nobody that knew they were there, a fiery finale seemed inevitable. Swallowing down his nervousness, Ash looked at Misty, whose eyes were filled with sadness and defeat.

"…Misty," he began firmly, "we may not make it out of this one. I don't know what else to do. It's… impossible…"

"No, Ash…" He gently took her hand, looked her directly in the eye, and murmured the one thing he thought he would never have to say.

"…It looks like this is the end, Misty. I… I just want to say that--"

"Don't," she whispered, placing her fingers on his mouth. Misty mournfully drew him in for a hug, and the two friends shared a tearful embrace as the flames closed in. Meanwhile, Jessie and James were bawling on each other's shoulders.

"James… this is it! You… you always said that you wanted to go down in a blaze of glory!" He smiled, sniffled, and held her close.

"It looks like… the old members of Team Rocket won't be blasting off again anymore. It… was good… while it lasted, Jessie…" They both squeaked in pain and held each other tightly. Brock, who was all by himself, let out a single wail.

"This can't be happening! I'm gonna die and I never even got to have a girlfriend! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

----------

Marion and Morrison smiled in complete victory, again, as they walked away from the building and out of the city. With two awesome treasures in their possession and a storehouse full of information on disks--not to mention the loot they had stolen from their young foes--they would be returning to the Team Rocket base as heroes. They had certainly accomplished more in one single mission than most every other Team Rocket member had done in their whole careers, and definitely redeemed themselves from the Legendary Pokemon Master debacle. Then again, they _were_ the best.

"I guess we'd better call the old man," said Marion. "He'll give birth to a whale when he hears this." Morrison agreed and held her stuff while she made the call (their device was battery-operated and used special radio waves that would be unaffected by the influence of the city). Giovanni did not usually like to be disturbed, but for his newest and deadliest employees, no time was a bad time to call.

"Yes, what have you to report?" he grumbled as the image came to life.

"We have something special planned for you, old man," smiled Marion slyly. Giovanni did not like her attitude but let her talk anyway.

"Like what?"

"You'll never guess," she chuckled.

"Just tell me," he said with a grumble. Marion pouted (a rare action indeed) and did as he asked.

"Oh… all right. Well, we downloaded a lot of good information in this new future world, and we're giving it to the tecchies to digest through. Oh, and remember those little twerps that were always running into our forerunners? We sacked and looted them blind, and stole a few Pokemon that we think you were after."

"Hm, not bad," he admitted. "But is that all?" Marion let out a sharp laugh and threw her blonde hair back wildly.

"HA, that's only an appetizer! We also managed to find a special radar that can find any Pokemon in the world!"

"Ah, now that _is_ something!" exclaimed Giovanni. "Now Team Rocket will be able to search the world over for the rarest Pokemon in a matter of hours instead of weeks! Good, good! Is there anything else?"

"Just one small thing, sir," said Morrison. "We found a blueprint that gives instructions on how to easily mass-produce Master Balls. We have that with us too." A healthy pause separated their conversation, in which Giovanni could be seen comically hanging his mouth wide open in pure astonishment. Both Marion and Morrison smiled pleasantly as visions of rich rewards danced in their heads.

"…Can you two imagine what we could do with all of that in our possession?" he said at last. Marion shrugged.

"You could pretty much rule the world."

"Exactly! Team Rocket will become the foremost authority in the known world! We will have extended our reach across the entire earth and into the heavens, using our influence and power to completely dominate forevermore! These finds are worth more treasures than I could possibly dare count! Marion Burke, Morrison Glidden, this act _alone_ merits you positions right at the top, with only myself as your authority!"

"I thought it was like that to begin with," grumbled Morrison. Giovanni completely ignored his comment and gave them both a flashy smile.

"Yes yes. Anyway, I'm going to send my fastest helicopter over to your coordinates. Be waiting outside of the city, and I will see you shortly. Giovanni out!"

"Roger." The transmission ended curtly, with their "boss" nearly singing for joy and the two Rockets smiling with glee. They casually took up their stuff and left the city as if it had all been a mere walk in the park.

----------

"AH!!"

"What is it? Are you hurt?" asked James. He examined Jessie but found no burns on her just yet. The fires were uncomfortably close, so of course he had reason for concern.

"No, I'm fine. I just remembered that Officer Jenny gave us a Pokemon to use instead of Ash's Pikachu!"

"But I thought that those two Rockets stole all our stuff!" said Ash. Jessie smiled and nodded her head.

"True, but they neglected to look in my 'secret compartment'!" James' eyes suddenly lit up with hope anew as his partner and friend mentioned her "secret compartment", and he was tempted to kiss Jessie right then and there. She dodged his affectionate tackle (sending him falling to the floor in a heap), and reached into her hair. After fishing around the vermilion jungle, Jessie plucked out a single Pokeball that Marion and Morrison had neglected to confiscate!

"All right Jessie!" squealed Misty. She and Ash both jumped up and down in glee as Jessie summoned the Pokemon within.

"Kadabra, I choose you! Use your psychic beam attack to make a path for us to get out of here!" A Kadabra came out and did as she asked, flattening the fires with its psychic beam. The wall temporarily parted, allowing the five friends and their single Pokemon passage through the flames. Everyone ran as hard as they could, until they were well out of the building and back into the city. Moments later, the entire place became consumed with fire, and exploded into a dull inferno as the flames washed up against fuel and oil.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief before falling on the floor in exhaustion.

"Wait! This is no time to be resting!" insisted James. He bolted up and demanded that everyone do the same. "We have to go stop Team Rocket! They made off with our stuff, and don't forget that they still have that radar and those blueprints!"

"Right! We can't let them get away with that!" shouted Misty, balling her fist up angrily. Ash, Brock, and Jessie joined the cause, and together they all chased after their enemy, using Kadabra's psychic abilities to track them down. The mysterious Pokemon was unaffected by the unusual influence of the city, so it was amazingly helpful in chasing down a pair of dastardly thieves.

The gang ran as fast as they could, letting Kadabra ride on top of Brock's shoulders since it was a little slow. They passed through most of the city at full speed, sometimes having to leap aside a few staring citizens as they ran. Marion and Morrison had gained an impressive lead, so it would take everything the friends had and more to catch up. Unfortunately, Kadabra could only be useful for so long before it tired out, and as fate saw to it, Kadabra finally wore itself out as the five friends came to a dreadful crossroads.

They were in the middle of a vast network of streets, alleys, and passageways, each one leading into a completely different direction. Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty hastily looked around them for any clues, but the city was dark and the roads were complex, every one looking like it could lead them to their destination--or just another dead end.

"This is… not really that good…" murmured James as he looked through all the possible paths. There were almost too many to count, let alone decide which was best. "Guys, I don't know how to tell you this, but… I think we're lost again." Misty rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock."

---------------

Pikachu could squirm all he wanted, but there was no escaping the clutches of the two dreaded members of Team Rocket. They had him encased in a burlap bag that itched terribly, and even _if_ he could have blasted his way out, Togepi was in the bag with him as well, so he wouldn't be able to risk harming the poor critter anyway. Besides, whoever was holding the bag bounced it around too many times for him to get any solid foothold. Marion and Morrison weren't stupid; they knew how to handle Pokemon such as Pikachu, and took full advantage of the city's negating influence.

"Not a bad haul," she sighed as she hefted the bags along. Most everything they had was the information they had downloaded on disk, with some exception being the radar, blueprint, and items they had stolen from their unworthy foes. It wasn't a lot to carry, and they were both in exemplary shape, particularly the gigan Morrison. The city's environment was as harsh and cruel as ever, giving off an eternal aura of darkness and confusion, but it was nothing the two Rockets could not overcome on their own.

"Let's get out of here quickly and quietly," grumbled Morrison as he moved some large debris out of the way. "That helicopter will be arriving any minute now, so we'll need to make ourselves stand out. Besides, I don't like this city. Not enough of those freakish monsters to fight."

"Agreed," she said with a hissy grin. They continued through the forest, down the path they felt would take them out the fastest. They were in no hurry, because to their knowledge, they were no longer being pursued. Besides, Giovanni's helicopter could wait a little while if need be. The Rockets had just sent his organization to the top of the dominating ladder, so they could all certainly afford to have some patience.

"You know what, Morrie?" asked Marion as she ducked under a destroyed girder. "This job was almost too easy. That behemoth gave us the most problems, and I had too much fun fighting it. What about you?"

"I've had tougher jobs," he snorted. The two of them squeezed through a small opening in what seemed to be the city wall, and found that the dark sky that covered the whole place gradually abated back into the sunny atmosphere of a warm day. The exit of the city was within their sight, and so with the polluted air and the rough ground already being forgotten, Marion and Morrison entered back into the world of purity and innocence, away from the futuristic city, and waited for the helicopter to come.

----------

"Well, now what?" asked Ash, staring at the dozens of destinations set before him. "Which way do we go? We'll have to hurry, cuz' Team Rocket's bound to be way ahead of us at this point!"

"Let's just split up and see where fate takes us all!" suggested James. Jessie nearly clobbered him for such a stupid proposal.

"That won't do us any good, Jim! There are too many places to look, and who knows how many of them lead on into the city! We could be traveling for hours, maybe even days! And even _if_ we catch up with those other two, it'll be just one of us against all of them! They beat us twice already when we had the ability to defend ourselves, so don't think we could ever win with just Kadabra." She glared at him coolly, and he responded with a teary face full of guilt.

"D'ohh, I'm sorry Jessica! I must not be thinking straight! But what else _can_ we do? Kadabra's too tired to tell us where to go and there's too many places and only five of us and they're probably way ahead of us by now and they can still beat us and I think we're lost and… and…… I DON'T LIKE IT HERE IN THIS CITY!"

"Snap out of it, James!" shouted Ash, shaking the other man fiercely. "We're all upset! But panicking about it won't solve anything! We'll have to think!" James took a deep breath, calmed his nerves, and quietly apologized for his outburst. Ash was right--this was no time to start screaming and losing their minds. They had to approach the problem logically.

"…You're right," he stated. "Let's use our heads. I suggest we look for their footprints. I noticed that the woman, Marion, was wearing a very peculiar type of boot--and that other guy wasn't exactly wearing a normal shoe size. We'll be able to track them down easily!"

"Good thinking!" cheered Jessie. The group split up and began to look for the peculiar prints, and as chance would have it, most of the entire area had been drowned in some kind of soot and ash from a long-ago fire. The area had not been walked upon recently, and after tracing the steps of where they had once been, the group of five friends eventually found two pairs of prints that closely matched the ones of their nemeses.

"It must be these!" exclaimed Brock. He shouted and waved for his friends, calling them over to see. "Look! Those boots look rare to me, and those are awfully big feet for a person! It must be them!"

"Good work!" said Misty with a smile. "All right, let's go down this path and hope we're right!" The gang resumed their journey with earnest, and began to go down the one single path that had been narrowed out of so many. It led up to the northeastern section of the city, where a large steel security wall had been erected to keep unwanted visitors out. There was now obviously a defect in the wall, or else monsters like the behemoth that Marion and Morrison had faced would not exist.

The team raced along the path, finding a destroyed remains of the city their only obstacle. It then became very clear that they were on the right path, because "somebody" had already cleared their way for them, tossing aside the debris and junk on their way out. Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty easily squeezed themselves through the wreckage, which would have otherwise slowed them down significantly. They hardly had any problems shoving aside the metal gates, or diving beneath crumbled bridges, or hopping over large potholes in the street.

When they came out of the wreckage, they found themselves once again in the city, or at least a less-populated part of it. They all looked around them briefly for any sign of their enemies, but were interrupted by a loud shout.

"Heeeeeey! Hey, you kids! You kids, over there!" A middle-aged man wearing a laboratory coat rushed towards them, his hand raised in the air. He came to a slow stop and caught his breath before addressing them.

"Is something wrong, sir?" asked Misty. The older man leaned on his knees, panting from so much running, and gradually answered her.

"Yes… You're outsiders, aren't you? I can tell because of the way you dress. It's not like our clothes."

"That's right," she replied carefully. "But what do you want?" The man caught his breath and stood up again, looking at all five of them in the eye.

"I've been looking all over for you people!" he exclaimed. "I got a report saying that nine outsiders had breached inside the city. Two of them already left a long time ago, and we just got word that two others were making their way to the exit of the city. Since nine minus four is five, I just assumed that--"

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Brock, interrupting him. "Did you say that there were two others making their way to the exit?"

"Yes, why?"

"It must be Team Rocket!" he exclaimed. "Sir, which way did they go?!"

"That's why I'm here, I guess you could say," pointed the older man. "I'm one of the supervisors who is helping this city get back to its original time period. Ever since that disaster a few weeks ago, we've been hurtled back through time somehow and are now stuck in this period! But a few of my fellow scientists have been doing some work, and we've just now found out a way to get this entire city back to where we once belonged!"

"That's amazing!" sang an impressed James. "Can you really send an entire city through time on your own?" The man shrugged.

"It's been done by nature; it can be done by us. But that's not important. I was sent out here to find any outsiders that might have wandered in here on purpose or by mistake, and my reports say that you're the only ones left. You have to get out of the city immediately!"

"Why, are you preparing to go back to your world?"

"Not preparing!" corrected the man in an excited voice. "We're initiating the countdown _right now_! It started about five minutes ago, and I've had to break every record to get here to you! Please, you don't have much time! You have to get out of the city!" The five friends gawked in surprise as the man spat out the critical situation. Time was crucial, so there was no room even for thought to process.

"But we don't know where to go!"

"I'll show you the way!" he said, and without waiting for them, the man began to run off in a direction. The five friends followed him without hesitation, and caught up to him so that they could throw a few quick questions.

"How much time do we have?"

"We'll just be able to make it!" shouted the man as they ran. "The countdown was set for ten minutes, so we have… four right now, I think."

"Just four minutes??!!"

"Like I said, we'll just barely make it!" he shouted. "Come on!" With that, the unnamed middle-aged man went into a sprint, leading the younger ones through the rest of the city and towards the wall. Seconds mercilessly fell down the hourglass, and minute after minute mocked them, as each step forward was precious. Suddenly, Misty tripped over a steel beam that had been protruding out of the ground, scattering dust as she fell.

"Misty!" Ash instantly turned around to help her, and shouted for his friends to continue on without him. Of course, not a one of them did, and everyone helped poor Misty stand back up. As she put her weight on one foot, she moaned out in pain.

"I think I sprained my ankle…" she wailed softly. Ash stared at her for a period, his mind racing and his face covered with nervous sweat. Jessie and James snapped him out of it, and since they were a little stronger, they acted as crutches for their redheaded friend. Their middle-aged benefactor shouted for them to hurry, and sprinted ahead to meet them at the city wall. Ash and Brock stayed with their three friends, refusing to go on ahead.

"There's no way that we're leaving any of you!" exclaimed the older boy. "I would never be able to live with myself if I left you behind! That's just not who I am!!" Misty, Jessie, and James gave Brock a fond smile as he declared his loyalty, and with that little boost, the trio limped towards the city wall with less than a minute to spare.

"Through here!" shouted their "friend", guiding them all through the hole in the wall. Ash and Brock helped Misty through, giving a brief thanks to their unknown friend as they left the city. The two former members of Team Rocket, however, stayed behind just briefly.

"Just who are you, anyway?" asked Jessie.

"And why does it feel like we know you?" wondered James. The man smiled and tipped an imaginary hat.

"Let's just say that I'm a friend. There's no time to waste now! Get through that hole and give Team Rocket some trouble for me!"

"Wait a minute! How do you know--"

"There's no time," said the man with a soft smile. "You'd better get going. You only have half a minute to spare! Go!!" Jessie and James obeyed, and gave the man one last smile before they squeezed through the hole in the city wall. He watched the five friends scurry away as quickly as they could, and as the seconds ticked down, the city began to pulsate and shiver. Snakes of electricity ran across the wall and the floor, the ground rumbled, thunder clapped, and laws of physics and nature were bent as ZERO City slowly shifted into the temporal distortion of time that would take them home.

"So long, Jessie and James," said the man with a smile as he and everything around him faded away. "I'm glad I finally got to meet you in person."

A large sphere of energy encompassed the city, sending electrical waves and blasts of smog tearing out of it as it prepared to blast off into the future. A massive whirlwind of power and wind surrounded the whole place, spinning around faster and faster until everything was a blur. A flash of light blinded everyone in the area, and slowly, the sphere of energy grew smaller and smaller, until there was almost nothing left of it at all. The whirlwind calmed down, and spun slower and slower, until the entire city was completely gone, and the radical effects of the time-travel had ceased.

Nothing remained except a very large husk of earth on an otherwise-empty island.

----------

Ash and his friends stared at the empty space for only a few seconds before realizing that there was still Team Rocket to worry about. Putting Misty in the care of Brock, Ash and his one-time enemies raced to catch up to the Rockets, who were now clearly visible thanks to the lack of black fog in the air. Ash cried out for Pikachu, and the little yellow mouse squealed back desperately. Marion and Morrison, however, snarled in a rage.

"It's those meddling kids again!" snarled Morrison, growling worse than any lion. "What does it take to get _rid_ of them?!" Marion's snarl turned into a smile, as if her partner had given her some kind of cue, and uncoiled the claws on her gauntlets like a fierce cat ready to spring.

"Well, you know what they always say, Morrie," she said huskily. "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!" He nodded his head and agreed entirely, flexing his muscles in a defensive position. Jessie and James stood back carefully, not wanting to get clobbered by the Rockets a third time, and left Ash to pull out his trump card.

"Pikachu! You can use your thunderbolt attack now!" The little mouse stirred to live, and with the Rockets distracted, leaped out of the bag and smiled at them menacingly. Morrison swallowed down a dark gulp of nervousness, and cursed lightly as the mouse screamed out at them. A large bolt of lightning snapped at them both, shocking Marion's steel hands and Morrison's steel mouth. The two Rockets were stunned from the blast, but once the smoke cleared, they revealed themselves to be shaken but not stirred.

"That wasn't too bad," coughed Marion. "Looks like you have more tricks than I anticipated. Oh well; we only need a few things anyway. Morrison!"

"Right!" The burly giant took a bag that he had stolen from the five friends during their latest skirmish, and hurled it around in the air like an Olympic hammer. He flung it with disastrous power at the three friends, bowling them over with their own stuff.

"You can keep that junk!" he shouted. "All we need are these things we found in the city!" Ash, James, and Jessie struggled to stand, but they had been hit too hard to make an immediate retaliation. As they struggled to get their possessions off, a helicopter hovered over the island, extending a ladder for the two Rockets to climb. With the treasure trove of futuristic information in their grasp, as well as the Pokemon Radar and the Master Ball blueprint, Marion and Morrison grabbed hold of the ladder and laughed wickedly as the chopper took them away into the distance.

"Looks like Team Rocket's having the last laugh again!!"

--------------------

A feeling of dread, dark and foreboding like the clouds of smog that once covered the futuristic city skies, filled the souls of the five friends. Their day had been bittersweet, the victory almost completely hollow, and the dread of what was to come gnawed at their minds. It was true that they all got their possessions back, from Pokemon to clothes and equipment, but the losses outweighed the gains by a substantial margin. Team Rocket now had a large storage full of information from the future, which they would no doubt use to further their campaign to dominate the entire world. With knowledge like that at their hands, there would be little that they could not do.

On top of that loss, they also had the means to completely monopolize the Pokemon business. They had the power to find any creature in the world, from the common to the one-of-a-kind, and they also had the means to capture them without any trouble whatsoever. Such powers at the hands of any person would make them a force to be reckoned with, but in the hands of Team Rocket…

The five friends could only shudder to think.

Eventually, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy came running to check up on the friends, expressing their infinite relief that they were all reasonably okay. Nurse Joy had a field day with recovering their minor injuries, and had to concentrate a bit more of her time and skill on Misty, but there was little cause to worry when it came to physical energies. Officer Jenny was also busy writing up a detailed report on the city, given to her by the five friends as they rested up from their adventure.

"Team Rocket having all that power at their fingertips… It's just not natural," she sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do now. The police officers will try their best to keep things from going out of control, but even _if_ we had a warrant for their leader's arrest, we don't know where he is or even _who_ he is. I guess we'll just have to worry about one thing at a time."

"………Yeah…" Ash let out a defeated sigh as Nurse Joy mended his little wounds, and reflected on what had transpired ever since they entered the city. The law of averages stated that even Team Rocket had to win a _few_ battles here and there…… but because of the magnitude of that win, the very world would soon lose its freedom, and Pokemon all over the globe would be constantly hunted by the Rockets. It was going to be a dark era for people and Pokemon everywhere, and with such powers running against them, it was going to be nearly impossible for Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty to stop them.

---------------

Giovanni smiled with unrestrained pride as his best agents presented him with their three treasures. Any and all inconveniences the two might have caused could be overlooked, and the problems they had encountered while finding the Legendary Pokemon Master were now insignificant. They had redeemed themselves and more, and would be heavily compensated in every way possible. Slowly, as if to grasp his own destiny, Giovanni took the Pokemon Radar in his hands.

"This has been a very good day for Team Rocket," he purred. "A very good day indeed. Miss Jones?"

"Yes?" answered his secretary.

"Call Minister of Aviation Dr. Holliday. I want every available Team Rocket agent we have to be given a helicopter as quickly as possible. I am going to send a very large shipment of special Pokeballs to his area as well, so tell him to expect a delivery."

"Yes, sir. May I ask the purpose of all this, sir?"

"Nothing special, Miss Jones," he answered, sucking on his cigar. "I've just decided that now might be a good time to take over the world, that's all."

**__**

The End

Closing comments: Watch for the finale to this legacy of darkness, coming soon! It shall be a tale of betrayal, desperation, horror, oppression, and fear--but it shall also be a tale of the human spirit, of friendship and strength of will, of sacrifices, and the lengths that people will go to in order to achieve sanity and order in the world. Stay tuned as I conclude it all with the final movement in this three-part saga, "Twilight of the Gods"!


End file.
